Things You Need to Know About Introverts Like Me

YES! I am an introvert. Pramis nga.

Photo by Johan Andrew Ocampo

And it took me (like) about 23 years for me to discover that I am not the extrovert that I've always believed myself to be.

So now, whenever I tell people "I'm an introvert"--all I usually get as a response are doubtful smirks that almost feel like "WEH?" or sarcastic laughs that very much tell me "WHATEVER, ZEL."

But again, YES. I am an introvert. And there are so many (misunderstood) people like me who are very comfortable in public speaking and being friendly with various types of people...but are the same time, introverts.

And if you find yourself having close friends who are my type of introverts, these are the things you'll need to be aware of to understand them (well, us) better:

I think the first thing you'll need to know is...

1. INTROVERT AND SHYNESS ARE NOT SYNONYMOUS.

I'm not shy. In Tagalog, wala akong hiya. Haha!

I can be the giggling, talkative, bubbly girl who dances at random places and at random times. Okay, you get the picture. And I’m not afraid of people, BUT being around too many people for too long always leaves me feeling drained. When I talk to many people, I can be my real best energetic self, but when I get home, I drop dead. As in like a dead battery!

Sometimes, when I hangout with too many people for toooooooooooo long, I run out of energy and spiral into silence and my mind is already doing other stuff...like, I don't know. Probably contemplating about life or something to that effect.

I discovered that I was the type of person who needed "purpose" for every interaction I make. Which leads me to my second point.

2. INTROVERTS LIKE ME LOVE CONVERSATIONS, BUT HATE SMALL TALK.

As much as my witty-self loves joking around (I mean I love puns and I have my kulit-likot-daldal moments), I have to be honest that introverts like me prefer REAL conversations with REAL substance rather than just small talk that are just full of 'banats' 'joke-joking' and stuff. I didn't mean it like we love to be "serious", but we just love to have a purposeful time with people. We're (over) thinkers and we get energized by heavier conversations about life, you know....ideas, life goals, theories....

We're good listeners and most of us are great at giving advices. In my case, I've noticed that in every interview I make (especially back in my magazine-days), I've always had that strength to transform a chit-chat interview into a real life talk ala Boy Abunda, where the people I interview suddenly open up their life views, up to their tear-jerking feelings and their past stories to me. 

Just as I love reading books and discovering stories, I also love interviewing people and discovering their real stories.

Basically, I love substance!


3. WE CAN HAVE AS MANY FRIENDS AS WE WANT, BUT WE REALLY HAVE FEW ONES WE TRUST AND KEEP CLOSE

I can be chummy with everybody so easily but it honestly really takes a little more while for me to really bring down my walls and be open to someone and trust them with my feelings, thoughts and opinions. It's like we are NOT anti-social but we're probably selectively-social.

It takes a little more warming up for me to really be open.


4. INTROVERTS LIKE ME DON'T GET BORED ALONE. AT ALL.

My mind is a very VERY twisted place. If you go inside my mind, it is probably exploding with colors, ideas, random thoughts, life questions, memories, imaginations, choreographies, unicorns and weird stuff. In most of my friends' words to describe me: "malikot ang utak"

My alone time has gotten me to write stories, to paint, to choreograph, to think of advertising ideas, to ACTUALLY meditate on His Word and see things in a fresh perspective, my alone time has gotten me to question life, to imagine my future, and to just end up sleeping--and most of all, my alone time has gotten me to write this blog! :P 

This fourth point already supports my fifth point which is:



5. INTROVERTS LIKE ME ARE MOSTLY CREATIVE AND ARTISTIC. BECAUSE WE KINDA OVERTHINK.

I have my silent moments. I swear I can't believe I can't even control my silence.

But in my silence, it doesn't mean I am not paying attention, my silence usually means I AM PAYING TOO MUCH ATTENTION. Yup. I'm overthinking what just happened or what has been said.

And because I am paying TOO MUCH attention and my mind runs wild, I collect a lot of information. I pick bits and pieces of information everywhere.  I am helplessly a silent chismosa.

And all these information I get make me feel something.

And that feeling inspires me to write something, or do something maybe artistically.

Or maybe not. <wink, wink>


6. INTROVERTS LIKE ME ARE VERY OBSERVANT!

My keen observance with people has gotten the best of me in acting and impersonating people. Hahaha! If we're close, I can probably impersonate you already! :D MEHE.






I could add more to the list, but these are just the first few things I can only think of. If you feel like adding more points to this, you could share me your thoughts on the comment sections below :)


So my point is, actually wala akong point (charot). My point is, we need to understand each other more and we need to be aware that there's not really like a specific set of traits limited to either if you're an introvert or an extrovert.

Just like in every cliché, everyone is unique and everyone deserves to be understood better. Just because you're not a shy person, doesn't mean you are automatically an extrovert. Just because you're talkative and bubbly (like me), doesn't necessarily make you an extrovert.

It's just that we all have different ways of keeping ourselves energized and we shouldn't force others to think the same way as we are. Or we shouldn't judge them for feeling tired or for being too makulit. I don't know where this paragraph is going...so before I get lost in my thoughts (again), just like to say thank you for stumbling into this blog and giving some minutes of your life.

'Til next time,

Chiao!